Fieldnotes
-
Cicada Preview
People are getting hopped-up about Brood II of the 17 year cicadas, emerging soon near you here on the East Coast. I can tell, because I’ve gotten a lot of search hits on the subject of cicadas. But most of my cicada posts are about the annual cicadas and their predators. I’ve never seen a…
-
Giant Caterpillar in the Night
Traci spotted this big, burly, bristly 2.5″ caterpillar Saturday night. It was crossing the mowed median between Flatbush Ave. and the bicycle path at Floyd Bennett Field. As we approached, the ‘pillar rose up, its deep black eyes alert to hominid danger. Evidently, if we’d attempted to touch it, it would have rolled into a…
-
Inside the Magnolias
My new sunglasses make it difficult to see the screen on my camera. So I didn’t realize these were in monochrome until afterwards.These blossoms at Pier 6 and Atlantic Avenue were already on their way out. Brief is the bloom of the magnolias.Another tree with the color back on:
-
An Invitation
Readers, you are invited to a bird and nature walk in Prospect Park this Sunday morning. The weather forecast looks promising. The neotropical migrants are starting to arrive. Things are blooming. These pictures are from Tuesday.We will meet at the Grand Army Plaza entrance at 8 a.m., in front of the Stranahan statue. Binoculars would…
-
Gifts of Sight and Sound
Saturday was an epic day of nature exploration here in the wide world of the Borough of Brooklyn. In the morning, I took a friend and her mother birding in Prospect Park. We saw some 44 species of birds, a good-turn out for our visiting Virginia birder. In the late afternoon, I joined two other…
-
Slow Morning
By which I mean a chilly morning, according to bumble bee standards. Burly little things, they warm themselves up by muscular action on chilly spring mornings, getting the jump on other pollinators who are smaller and more solar-powered. This looks like a Bombus impatiens, which, for all I know, is how you look on Monday…
-
Flowermania
It’s that time of year, when Backyard and Beyond starts to get overwhelmed with flowers.Some of this weeks sightings.
-
Cocoon
Still visible on some bare trees out there, these hanging gardens are the cocoons of a bagworm moth in the family Psychidae. There’s a caterpillar in here who made this hanging tent of leaves last year so it could overwinter. There are some 1300-plus known members of the Psychidae world-wide. The better known in our…
-
First Honeybees
Yesterday, I came upon the first honeybees I’ve seen this year. They were working the ornamental cherries at the Grand Army Plaza entrance to Prospect Park. One landed on my shirt. Remember, bees are not aggressive unless you go after them, or their hive. So don’t panic. Close your eyes and think of England if…
-
Backyard and Beyond 